‘Very difficult’ Vowles decision vindicated as Colapinto reveals next F1 steps

Franco Colapinto said he’s thrilled to have been able to reward Williams for putting trust in him after the “difficult” decision to replace Logan Sargeant.

The struggling American driver was dropped from his Williams race seat after the Dutch Grand Prix, with team boss James Vowles turning to Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto to take over the second car.

Franco Colapinto: Monza was a good step forward

Jumping into the Williams at short notice, all eyes were on the first Argentinian F1 race driver since Gaston Mazzacane drove for Prost in 2001.

Qualifying 18th, Colapinto put in a solid, assured drive to utilise a one-stop strategy en route to 12th place – setting a faster lap than Alex Albon managed as the British/Thai racer took ninth place.

It was a hugely encouraging start for Colapinto’s F1 career which, for now, is only set to run until the end of the year as Williams has already signed Carlos Sainz to the second seat for F1 2025.

Talking to the media after his race at Monza, Colapinto was visibly tired after the huge physical demand of a much longer race in hot temperatures than he would usually be acclimated to.

“The race was physically tough as I’m a bit tired and sore now but there are plenty of positives to take,” he said.

“Before I had never driven more than eight laps in a row in the FW46 and there were 53 to do with very high track temps. I think I did a good job of managing the tyres to make the one-stop work and the race pace was strong.

“It’s time to recover – first the body and then prepare well for Baku. It’s a track I don’t know, and it will be tough, and it will be a challenge – I know that, but you know now, at least, it’s only one thing to learn.

“I already know the car from this weekend, so it was a good weekend to do your debut. I knew the track quite well, so it was only one thing to learn. Next weekend in Baku will be also one thing to learn, and that is the track.”

Asked by PlanetF1.com whether he felt he had given Williams vindication for the decision to swap him in for Sargeant, Colapinto replied: “Of course, I’m very happy to give them a good result in the first race I do with them.

“James and the team had the trust to put on me, to put me in the car, and to put me in a seat. It’s a very difficult decision, the one that they made, but I’m extremely happy for the performance and just looking forward to the next race and feeling more and more comfortable in the car.

“This was a very good step forward to try to understand better, to learn more, and overall, I’m just very proud of how everything went.”

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With the attention of his home country glued to him for the weekend as Argentina hopes to uncover a successor to the glory brought to the country by world champion Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s, and race winners Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Carlos Reutemann, Colapinto said he simply went into the race with the intention of savouring every moment.

“It’s a moment that you have to enjoy. It’s just a very proud moment – your first weekend and your first race. It’s just wow, You know? It’s something that you are never gonna forget,” he said.

“I just enjoyed it a lot. I tried to enjoy every moment. The drivers were very nice. Some of them gave me some tips. And yeah, Alex [Albon] has been very, very helpful in the team and with all the things that he’s been saying and I’m just happy.”

Asked by PlanetF1.com whether he’s already identified areas in which he wants to immediately improve, Colapinto explained he does have high targets he’s setting himself.

“We have a lot of info now to take to the team,” he said.

“The good thing is that, with a two-week gap, we have enough time to go through everything, to go through every lap of the race, and understand what I did do wrong, what I need to do better, and what the strong points are.

“Mainly, how to keep back adapting better to the car. There are some things that I need to improve, and it’s very normal. It’s a process that has been very short for me so far, but it’s supposed to be long, but my first race in F1 came very quickly and I did a good job.”

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